Cash register and indicator



(No Model.) 4 sneetssheen 1. J. J. WEBSTER.

CASH REGISTER AND INDICATOR.

No. 447,854. Patented Mar. 10,1891.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. J. WEBSTER.

CASH REGISTER AND INDICATOR.

No. 447.854. Patented Mar. 10,1891.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. J. WEBSTER. CASH REGISTER .IND INDICATOR.

No. 447,854. Patented Mar. 10,1891.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. J.. WEBSTER.

CASH REGISTER AND INMGATOR.

No. 447,854. Patented Mar. 10,1891.

UNITED STATES JEROME J. IVEBS'IER, OF SOMERVILLE, Mi-XSSi'XOIIUSE'lTS, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE BOSTON OASII INDICATOR AND RECORDER OOMPi Y, OF BANGOR, MAINE.

CASH REGISTER AND INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,854, dated March 10, 1891.

Application filed August B, 1890.

To all whom it may coli/cern:

V3e it known that I, JEROME J. WEBSTER, a subject of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and Oon'mionwcalth of Massachusetts, have invented a certa-in new and useful Improvement in Cash Indicators and Registers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cash indicators and registers; and it consists in the devices and combinations hereinafter described and claimed, and having for their objects to prevent a return of any depressed key to its normal position until after said key has been fully depressed; to prevent the simultaneous depression oftwo keys of the same series to display a signal whenever a key is depressed; to hold said signal displayed until another key is depressed or partially depressed, and to release any displayed signal upon the depression ot any key other than the key by which it is displayed.

In the accompanying drawings, on .tour sheets, Figure l is a vertical section, from front to rear, of a part of the case and trame of a cash indicator and register on the line l l in Fig. 2, and a side elevation of keys, stop-racks, their operating-springs, rack-retaining hooks, hook-releasing levers, signallevers, signals, si glial-raising mechanism, signal retaining and releasing devices, and the devices which register the number of times the case is opened and closed, one key being depressed and the corresponding signal being raised; Fig. 2, a vertical section on the line 2 2 in Fig. l ot' a part of the case and the keys and a front elevation of the key-guides, stopracks, signal-levers, signals, the signal-raising mechanism, and the signal retaining and releasing devices, one of the signals being raised or displayed; Fig. 3, a plan of keys, stopracks, stops, signal-levers, signals, signal-lever rods, their operating-cams, and the signal retaining and releasing devices, one of the signals being raised and the case omitted; Fig. el, an isometric view of the signal-levers, signals, the signalraising mechanism, the signal holding and releasing devices, part of the stop-racks and a part of a key, the same being depressed and one of the signals being Serial No. 361,467. (No model.)

in its raised position; Fig. 5, a plan of two of lthe stop-racks, the cams supported thereon,

the retaining and releasing rod, two of its releasing-arms, ,one of said arms being in its normal position, and the other of said arms being partly returned to position and heilig shown partly in horizontal section; Fig. 6, a vertical section from front to rear of a part of the frame and a side elevation ot part of two keys, stops, and two of the movable pieces which enter between the stops to prevent a simultaneous depression of two keys, said pieces being like the stop-racks, except that they are not provided with teeth.

The case A is substantially of the usual form and contains the registering and indicating devices in the usual manner and is provided with glazed apertures a at the front and back of said case to allow the reading of signals. In the lower part of the case a cash-d awer commonly slides, as is well understood; but such drawer and the mechanism for retaining the same in the case and for proj ecting the drawer partly from the case upon the depression of any key is in common use and well-known, and is therefore not shown.

The keys B are substantially et the common form and are pivoted upon a common fulcrum-rod l), supported in the Jframe O of So the machine, and said keys are guided byvertical guides c, in the usual manner.

In the rear of the keys I3 are pivoted a series of racks D, equal in number to the series of keys, upon a common fulcrum-rod di, supported in the frame C, parallel with the ful-4 crum-rod Z), the hub d of each rack being pro` vided with a downwardly-projecting arm d, from the lower end ot which to the stud d is stretched a spiral spring d?, to throw the rack 9o forward into engagement with the corresponding key.

The front face or edge of each rack D is provided with a series of upwardly-hooking teeth d, and the rear ond ot each key is of a suitable shape, being beveled downwardlyand backwardly, shown at b in Fig. l, to be engaged by the teeth of said rack successively when the key is depressed in the usual manner, so that a racl: allows the depression of a key, but prevents its return to position, except as hereinafter stated. v

IOO

'lhe upper end of each rack is provided with a longer tooth tZ than any of the teeth d, said longer tooth reaching within the arc in which the points of the teeth CZ lie, so that when any key is fully depressed the corresponding rack is thrown back far enough to allow said key to return toits normal position without striking any of the teeth CZ.

Each rack is provided withalateral proj ecltion d3, adapted to be engaged by a hook di),

pivoted in the rear of said rack upon a backwardly and upwardly extending arm d10, which is rigidlysecured on the frame C, the under side of the front or free end of said hook (Z9 being rounded or inclined at OZ, as shown in Fig. l, to allow said lateral projection d8 to run under and raise the forward end of said hook during the backward movement of the rack. larged to give it sufficient weight to engage the projection CZS quickly. When the rack D is thrown back, as above described, by the action of the key upon its upper long tooth CZ', the hook d prevents the forward movement of the rack until-the key has returned to its normal position. A lever CZ12 is pivoted on the side of each rack, its rear end extending under the hook CZ in front of the pivot of said hook and its front end extending under the key B, which corresponds to the rack on which said lever is pivoted, so that when a key previously depressed returns to its nori mal position said hook strikes the forward end of said lever CZ12 and raises the rear end of said lever and lifts the hook @Z9 out of engagement with the lateral projection d8, as above described, and allows the rack to be thrown forward by the contraction of the spring cZ7 into a position to be again engaged by said key.

The upper end of each rack is provided with a backwardly-extending arm CZS, which when the rack is swung backward by the 0peration of the corresponding key enters between two stops E o f a series of stops pivoted at e upon the frame of the machine, or, in the case of the keys at the extreme end of the series,between one of said stops and the frame C or a fixed projection c thereon. The combined width of the stops E is equal to the distance between the fixed stops or projections c', less the lateral thickness of a single arm cZ, and the stops E all lie in the same plane, and said arms have an equal lateral thickness, so that when any one of the arms Z13 is thrown backward no other such arm can be thrown backward until the first arm is restored to position. It follows that no two racks can be simultaneously thrown backward and that no two keys can be simultaneously depressed.

In order to allow a slightlost motion ofthe keys before the arms cZ13 come in contact with the stops, a long tooth d2 may be arranged at Vthebottom of the rack below theteeth d.

This allows the parts to be less accurately constructed with reference t0 each other. Evi- 'lhe free end of the hook di) is en! dently a series of movable pieces D (see Fig. 6) without teeth, but otherwise likethe racks, may be used to prevent a simultaneous depression of two keys by entering between the stops E.

Instead of the usual signals mounted upon the tops of vertical signal-rods and raised vertically by the depression of the keys, I use a series of signals or tablets F, each numbered on both sides with the same number and with a number corresponding to a number on its key, each of said signals being se cured to the free end of a bent lever f, all of said levers turning upon a common fulcrumrod f', arranged at right angles to the f ulcrumrods b Z3 and secured in the frame C of the machine, there being as many such levers and and upon said plate are arranged as many rods G as there are signal-levers, said rods being for the greater portion of their length straight and parallel with the fulcrum-rods b (Z3. The ends of said rods nearest the signallevers slide in holes c3 in the frame of the machine, and the ends of said rods farthest from said signal-levers are bent backward and then downward at g and passed through vertical slots c4 -in said plate c2, each of said bent ends being arranged above the top of a rack D.

On the top of each rack D is a cam H, inclined laterally away from the signal-levers, and adapted, when the racks are thrown backward, to strike the lower bent end g of one of the rods G and to crowd said rod against a signal-lever, and thereby to raise the signal carried by said signal-lever into view at the apertures a. The cam H in front of its inclined portion 7i has a side h', which is parallel with the path in which the rackto which it is secured moves, so that a signal is held displayed until the rack, after being moved backward, returns to its normal position. Each rod G is provided with a shoulder g or upward bend, which assists in preventing the red from returning to its normal position after the rack moves forward and until the. depression of another key or a second depression of the same key, as hereinafter described.

The retaining and releasing. rod I 1s supported in the frame C of the machine in a and moving therewith, the upper surface ofsaid cam J being downwardly and rearwardly'4 inclined and running under and raising said bent end part c', and rocking said rod I when IOO IIO

IZO

the rack swings backward. The rod I is provided with a retaining-arm t2, rigidly secu red thereto, which normally rests upon the top of all the rods G and is raised by the above-de scribed action of any cam J' on a releasingarm of said rod I. When a signal-raising rod G is operated by the cam, as above described, to raise a signal, the upwardly-extending bend g of said rod G is pushed under and raises the retaining-arm t2, which immediately falls behind said bend g' and prevents the return of said rod G and signal to their normal positions until said retainingarm 112 is again raised by the action of the cam J on a releasing-arm of the rod I, or, in other words, until another key is depressed, or until the key which raised said signal is again depressed. The bent part t" of a releasing-arm drops suddenly oft from the front upper end of a cam J, when the rack carrying said cam moves back sutliciently, in order to allow the retaining-arm to be restored to position in readiness to hold the rod G, which is immediately afterward operated by the cam Il on the same rack, and the cam J is cut under or provided with a laterally-inclined groovej, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, to crowd aside said bent end part t and allow said cam J to move backward when the key has returned to position, as above described, the releasing-arms t being sufficiently elastic for that purpose.

The case A is provided with a cover a2, hinged at a3, by raising which access may be had to the interior of the case.

To prevent tampering with the mechanism arranged within the case by a dishonest clerk or other person, a register is provided which registers one every time the cover a2 is closed, and therefore shows how many times the cover has been lifted or opened, said register consisting of a registering-ratchet K', turning upon a horizontal stud 7e3, supported by the side of the ease, a registering-gear K2, turning upon a horizontal stud 7a4, similarly supported, a spring-pawl K, secured to the inside or under side of said cover and adapted to engage the.registering-ratchet K and to rotate the same a single tooth every time the cover is closed, a spring retaining-pawl 7J", which prevents a return movement of said ratchet, another spring retaining pawl 7a, which prevents a return movement of the gear K2, or an overregistration by said gear, due to the momentum of said gear, said retaining-pawls being supported on the side ot the case, as shown in Fig. l. The ratchet K is represented as provided with ten teeth c, the gear K2 as provided with ten notches 7a2, and a pin 7c projects laterally from the ratchet 7s in such a manner as to engage a notch of said gear once in every revolution of said ratchet, so that a complete revolution of said ratchet indicates that the cover a2 has been closed ten times, and a single revolution of the gear indicates that the cover has been closed one hundred times. It the proprietor,

after opening the cover and inspecting the registcriiig-wheels, finds that the number registered exceeds the number registered at the last previous inspection by more than one, he will know that the case has been opened by some person other than himself.

It will be understood that registering devices ot any well-known construction may be used within the case and operated by the depression oE the keys in the usual manner to indicate the total amount of money received; but these money-registering devices form no part of my present invention and are well understood, and for that reason are not shown in the drawings and need no description herein.

l claim as my inventionl. The combination of a series ol' keys, an equal series of movable racks, each adapted to be moved by the movement of a key, and a series of movable stops arranged to allow the movement ot any rack and to prevent the simultaneous movement ot two or more racks and thereby to prevent the sim ultaneous movement of two or more keys, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a series ot keys, an equal series of movable racks, and a series of stops, each arranged to swing in a plane at right angles to the plane in which said racks are movable and arranged to allow the movement of any rack and to prevent the simultaneous movement of two or more racks, as and for the purpose specified.

The combination of a series of keys, a series of pivoted racks, each provided with a series of teeth of equal length adapted to engage a key and to prevent a return movement ot the same, and with a longer tooth adapted to be struck by said key to throw said rack out of engagement with said key, a spring to hold said rack in engagement with said key, and a series of hooks equalin number to the number of said racks and each adapted to engage a rack and to hold the same out of engagement with a key, as and for the purpose specified.

et. rlhe combination of a series ol' keys, a series of pivoted racks, each provided with a series of teeth of equal length adapted to engage a key and to prevent a return movement of the same, and with a longer tooth adapted to be struck by said key to throw said rack out of such engagement, a series of hooks, each adapted to engage araek and to hold the same out ot engagement with a key during the return movement of said key, and a series of levers, each adapted to be struck by a key and to disengage one of said hooks from the corresponding rack at the completion'ot the return movement of said key, as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of a series of keys, an equal series of movable racks, each ot said racks being arranged to engage one ot said keys and to be moved thereby, an equal series ol` signal-levers, each provided with a IOO IXO

equal series of movable racks, each of said racks being arranged to engage one of said keys and to be moved thereby, an equal serie's ot' signal-levers, each provided with a signal and each of said signals bearinga corresponding mark withone of said keys, an equal series of cams, each arranged upon one of said racks, an equal series of signal-raising rods, each adapted to be operated by one of said cams and to raise one of said signals, and each provided with an upward projection or shoulder, and a pivoted retainer arranged to rest normally upon all of said rods, but to be raised by the shoulder ot lany of said rods and to fall behind sueh shoulder and to prevent a return movement of said rod, signallever, and signal, as and for the purpose specied.

7. The combination of a series of keys, an equal series of movable racks, each of said keys and to be moved thereby, an equal series of signal-levers, each provided with a signal, au equal series of cams, each arranged upon one of said racks, an equal series of signalraising rods, each adapted to be operated by one of said cams and to raise one of said signals, and each provided with an upward projeetion or shoulder, the retaining and releasing rod provided with a retaining-arm arranged to rest normally upon all of said rods, but adapted to be raised by the shoulder of any of said rods and to fall behind such shoulder and to prevent a return movement of said rod last named, said retaining and releasing rod being also provided with an equal series of vreleasing-arms, and another equal series of cams, each arranged upon one of said racks and each adapted to raise one of said releasing-arms to rock said releasing-rod, and to raise said retaining-arm to permit a return movement of a raised signal and the corresponding signal-raising` rod, as and for the purpose specified.

In Witness whereof I have signed this speeiication, in the presence of two attesting wit.-

Inesses, this 31st day of July, A. D. 1890.

JEROME J. VEBSTR.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, MYRTIE C. BEALs. 

